CORONAVIRUS: HE KNEW; HE LIED; & at Least1,150,427 IN THE USA HAVE DIED - ((NEW VIRUS - NEW WARNINGS !!!))

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The 3 Simple Rules
That Underscore the Danger of Delta

Vaccines are still beating the variants,
but the unvaccinated world is being pummeled
.



A wall of vaccine syringes in front of a coronavirus

MirageC / Getty; NAIAD;

The Atlantic
JULY 1, 2021
By Ed Yong


Fifteen months after the novel coronavirus shut down much of the world, the pandemic is still raging. Few experts guessed that by this point, the world would have not one vaccine but many, with 3 billion doses already delivered. At the same time, the coronavirus has evolved into super-transmissible variants that spread more easily. The clash between these variables will define the coming months and seasons. Here, then, are three simple principles to understand how they interact. Each has caveats and nuances, but together, they can serve as a guide to our near-term future.



1. The vaccines are still beating the variants.
The vaccines have always had to contend with variants: The Alpha variant (also known as B.1.1.7) was already spreading around the world when the first COVID-19 vaccination campaigns began. And in real-world tests, they have consistently lived up to their extraordinary promise. The vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna reduce the risk of symptomatic infections by more than 90 percent, as does the still-unauthorized one from Novavax. Better still, the available vaccines slash the odds that infected people will spread the virus onward by at least halfand likely more. In the rare cases that the virus breaks through, infections are generally milder, shorter, and lower in viral load. As of June 21, the CDC reported just 3,907 hospitalizations among fully vaccinated people and just 750 deaths.

Could the Delta variant (also known as B.1.617.2) change that picture? Data from the U.K. suggest that it is 35 to 60 percent better at spreading than Alpha, which was already 43 to 90 percent more transmissible than the original virus. (It may also be deadlier, but that’s still unclear.) It now causes 26 percent of new infections in the U.S. and will soon cause most of them.



But even against Delta, full vaccination—with a heavy emphasis on full—is effective. Two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are still 88 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Delta infections, according to a U.K. study, and 96 percent effective at preventing hospitalization. (A single dose, however, is only 33 percent effective at stopping symptomatic infection.) Israel, a highly vaccinated country, is experiencing a small Delta surge, but so far, none of the new cases has been severe. And while about 30 percent of those new cases have been in fully vaccinated people, this statistic reflects, in part, the country’s success at vaccination. Because Israel has fully vaccinated about 85 percent of adults, you would expect many new infections to occur in that very large group. “It does seem like the vaccines are holding their own against the variants,” Emma Hodcroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern, told me. “That’s something we can take some comfort from.”

But the coronavirus can cause serious problems without triggering severe infections. Because people can develop long COVID without ending up in the hospital, could Delta still cause long-term symptoms even if vaccines blunt its sting? The anecdotal reports of long-haulers whose symptoms abated after vaccination might suggest otherwise, but “we don’t know enough to say,” Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard, told me.

Another crucial question that “we really need to understand is the nature of transmission from breakthrough cases,” Hanage said. Worryingly, a recent study documented several cases during India’s spring surge in which health-care workers who were fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine were infected by Delta and passed it on.

If other vaccines have similar vulnerabilities, vaccinated people might have to keep wearing masks indoors to avoid slingshotting the virus into unvaccinated communities, especially during periods of high community transmission. “That is unfortunately the direction this is headed,” says Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, who led the study. Israel has reimposed a mask mandate, while Los Angeles County and the World Health Organization have advised that vaccinated people should wear masks indoors. And such measures make sense because ...



2. The variants are pummeling unvaccinated people.
Vaccinated people are safer than ever despite the variants. But unvaccinated people are in more danger than ever because of the variants. Even though they’ll gain some protection from the immunity of others, they also tend to cluster socially and geographically, seeding outbreaks even within highly vaccinated communities.

The U.K., where half the population is fully vaccinated, “can be a cautionary tale,” Hanage told me. Since Delta’s ascendancy, the country’s cases have increased sixfold. Long-COVID cases will likely follow. Hospitalizations have almost doubled. That’s not a sign that the vaccines are failing. It is a sign that even highly vaccinated countries host plenty of vulnerable people.

Delta’s presence doesn’t mean that unvaccinated people are doomed. When Alpha came to dominate continental Europe, many countries decided not to loosen their restrictions, and the variant didn’t trigger a huge jump in cases. “We do have agency,” Hodcroft said. “The variants make our lives harder, but they don’t dictate everything.”

In the U.S., most states have already fully reopened. Delta is spreading more quickly in counties with lower vaccination rates, whose immunological vulnerability reflects social vulnerability. Black and Hispanic Americansare among the most likely groups to die of COVID-19 but the least likely to be vaccinated. Immunocompromised people may not benefit from the shots. Children under 12 are still ineligible. And unlike in many other wealthy countries, the pace of vaccinations in America is stalling because of lack of access, uncertainty, and distrust. To date, 15 states, most of which are in the South, have yet to fully vaccinate half their adults. “Watch the South in the summer,” Hanage said. “That’ll give us a flavor of what we’re likely to see in the fall and winter.”

Globally, vaccine inequities are even starker. Of the 3 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, about 70 percent have gone to just six countries; Delta has already been detected in at least 85. While America worries about the fate of states where around 40 percent of people are fully vaccinated, barely 10 percent of the world’s population has achieved that status, including just 1 percent of Africa’s. The coronavirus is now tearing through southern Africa, South America, and Central and Southeast Asia. The year is only half over, but more people have already been infected and killed by the coronavirus in 2021 than in 2020. And new variants are still emerging. Lambda, the latest to be recognized by the WHO, is dominant in Peru and spreading rapidly in South America.


Many nations that excelled at protecting their citizens are now facing a triple threat: They controlled COVID-19 so well that they have little natural immunity; they don’t have access to vaccines; and they’re besieged by Delta. At the start of this year, Vietnam had recorded just 1,500 COVID-19 cases—fewer than many individual American prisons. But it is now facing a huge Delta-induced surge when just 0.19 percent of its people have been fully vaccinated. If even Vietnam, which so steadfastly held the line against COVID-19, is now buckling under the weight of Delta, “it’s a sign that the world may not have that much time,” Dylan Morris, an evolutionary biologist at UCLA, told me.

With Delta and other variants spreading so quickly, “my great fear is that in not very long, everyone globally will either have been vaccinated or infected,” Morris said. He didn’t want to pinpoint a time frame, but “I don’t want to bet that we have more than a year,” he said. And richer nations would be wrong to think that the variants will spare them, because ...


3. The longer Principle No. 2 continues, the less likely No. 1 will hold.

Whenever a virus infects a new host, it makes copies of itself, with small genetic differences—mutations—that distinguish the new viruses from their parents. As an epidemic widens, so does the range of mutations, and viruses that carry advantageous ones that allow them to, for example, spread more easily or slip past the immune system to outcompete their standard predecessors. That’s how we got super-transmissible variants like Alpha and Delta. And it’s how we might eventually face variants that can truly infect even vaccinated people.

None of the scientists I talked with knows when that might occur, but they agree that the odds shorten as the pandemic lengthens. “We have to assume that’s going to happen,” Gupta told me. “The more infections are permitted, the more probable immune escape becomes.”

If that does happen, when would we know? This is the first pandemic in history in which scientists are sequencing the genes of a new virus, and tracking its evolution, in real time—that’s why we know about the variants at all. Genomic surveillance can tell which mutations are rising to the fore, and lab experiments can show how these mutations change the virus—that’s how we know which variants are concerning. But even with such work “happening at incredible speed,” Hodcroft told me, “we can’t test every variant that we see.”


Many countries lack sequencing facilities, and those that have them can be easily swamped. “Again and again, we have seen variants pop up in places that are under extraordinary strain because those variants are causing large surges,” Hanage said. Delta ripped its way through India, “but we only understood it when it started causing infections in the U.K.—a country that had plenty of scientists with sequencers and less to do.” So the first sign of a vaccine-beating variant will likely be an uptick in disease. “If vaccinated folks start getting sick and enter hospitals with symptoms, we’ll have a pretty good picture of what’s going on,” Maia Majumder, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, told me.

We’re unlikely to be as vulnerable as we were at the beginning of the pandemic. The vaccines induce a variety of protective antibodies and immune cells, so it’s hard for a variant virus to evade them all. These defenses also vary from person to person, so even if a virus eludes one person’s set, it might be stymied when it jumps into a new host. “I don’t think there’ll suddenly be a variant that pops up and evades everything, and suddenly our vaccines are useless,” Gupta told me. “It’ll be incremental: With every stepwise change in the virus, a chunk of protection is lost in individuals. And people on the edges—the vulnerable who haven’t mounted a full response—will end up bearing the cost.”



If that happens, vaccinated people might need booster shots. Those should be possible: The mRNA vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer should be especially easy to revise against changing viruses. But “if we need boosters, I worry that countries that are able to produce vaccines will do so for their own populations, and the division around the world will become even greater,” Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the WHO, told me.

The discussion about vaccine-beating variants echoes the early debates about whether SARS-CoV-2 would go pandemic. “We don’t think too well as a society about low-probability events that have far-reaching consequences,” Majumder told me. “We need to prepare for a future where we are doing vaccine rollout again, and we need to figure out how to do that better.” In the meantime, even highly vaccinated nations should continue investing in other measures that can control COVID-19 but have been inadequately used—improved ventilation, widespread rapid tests, smarter contact tracing, better masks, places in which sick people can isolate, and policies like paid sick leave. Such measures will also reduce the spread of the virus among unvaccinated communities, creating fewer opportunities for an immune-escape variant to arise. “I find myself the broken record who always emphasizes all the other tools we have,” van Kerkhove said. “It’s not vaccines only. We’re not using what we have at hand.”


The WHO’s decision to name variants after the Greek alphabet means that at some point, we’ll probably be dealing with an Omega variant. Our decisions now will determine whether that sinister name is accompanied by equally sinister properties, or whether Omega will be just an unremarkable scene during the pandemic’s closing act.


The Atlantic’s COVID-19 coverage is supported by grants from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Ed Yong is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers science.


 
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SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

COVID-Free’ Dance Party - Infects 160+ Revelers

650 people who attended the Aspen Valley disco in the Dutch
city of Enschede had to prove they were vaccinated
or COVID-
free, but 165 have already tested positive in the aftermath.



Owners of the ski-themed Aspen Valley nightclub in the city of Enschede in eastern Netherlands couldn’t wait to reopen their venue after more than a year of harsh lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They did everything the Municipal Health Authorities told them to do before opening on June 26: require all customers to present vaccine certificates or negative COVID-19 tests. No face masks or social distancing was required for the revelers.

What they apparently didn’t account for was how desperate the customers were to dance. So far, 165 of the 650 nightclub goers have tested positive for the virus despite the precautions. Now they know that many of those who attended shared screen grabs of Q-codes or negative tests and the bouncers didn’t notice.

Health authorities are asking that everyone who danced at the club that night self isolate until everyone can be tested.

The Netherlands is one of many countries that have eased lock down measures by requiring “test for entry” at all mass gatherings. But since the nightclub fiasco, new infections in the city are up 145 percent, according to the Dutch media.

Party goer Tim Boxen, 20, told a local newspaper that of the 18 friends he went to the club with, nine have so far tested positive. He said he and his friends all have real COVID test results, but few others did. “There was cheating going on everywhere,” he said, describing people sending their negative results to each other’s phones.

In the Netherlands, people are also given vaccination certificates just one day after they complete their last dose, even though immunity doesn’t start right away and in most cases people are not fully immune for two weeks. And when people are required to take a test 48 hours before attending an event, most don’t quarantine to stay COVID-free in the meantime. “Something that does bother me is that customers can do their test 40 hours in advance,” a bartender told the local newspaper. “So someone gets tested on Friday afternoon, goes to football practice, has a beer with friends and then comes to us 33 contacts later.”

The Dutch supersreader party is just the latest example of how things can go terribly wrong when reopening.

Nearly 700 students from Madrid who attended an end-of-term party all tested positive for the virus despite having been tested before entering. Those students had contact with nearly 3,000 others upon their return, who all had to quarantine.


Despite by now well-known scientific evidence that mass gatherings of maskless people is the easiest way to spread the disease, and that those who are vaccinated can still transmit it, summer fun seems to be more important for many. The World Health Organization last week noted concern over a surge in cases across Europe, tied to the European Soccer Championships held in 11 countries which have gathered massive crowds of people who, like the Dutch dancers, have also been tested or vaccinated.





‘COVID-Free’ Dance Party Infects 160+ Revelers (thedailybeast.com)


.
 

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Covid-19 rules:
How six countries fared after easing Covid rules


What has happened in places where rules have been relaxed?


Israel
As it raced ahead in its vaccine programme, Israel began to lift restrictions in February.
By mid-June - when well over half the population had been double-jabbed - Israelis stopped wearing masks and pre-pandemic life returned, with shops, restaurants, hotels and cinemas all fully open.

Restaurant in Israel

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES image caption

Israel reopened bars and restaurants in March

Since then confirmed daily cases - driven by the more infectious Delta variant - have risen steadily, reaching a four-month peak of 754 on Tuesday. Though officials say serious cases, including the number of people being hospitalised, remain relatively low.
The surge in cases, however, has prompted new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government into a partial rethink.

Under what it calls a "soft suppression" approach, Israelis will be asked to learn to live with Covid.

Curbs being reinstated include the mandatory wearing of face masks indoors and quarantine for all people arriving in Israel.


The Netherlands
With vaccinations rising and cases dropping, the Netherlands pushed ahead with its reopening in late June. Face masks were abandoned in almost all places and young people were encouraged to go out again.
Since then, cases have soared, jumping to their highest levels since December - although the relaxation has not led to a notable rise in hospital admissions.

Cafe in Amsterdam
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES image captionThe Netherlands has been forced to backtrack on its easing

As criticism from health officials grew louder, Prime Minister Mark Rutte was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on Friday and re-imposed many restrictions, just three weeks after the measures were lifted.

Restaurants and bars were forced to close from midnight, while nightclubs were shut again, as Mr Rutte apologised for his "poor judgement".
"What we thought would be possible, turned out not to be possible in practice," he admitted.
The Dutch government's website says the measures will remain in place until at least 13 August.


South Korea
Hailed as a success story in its handling of Covid-19, South Korea was one of the first East Asian countries to chart a path out of the pandemic.
In June it announced plans to allow vaccinated people to go mask-free outdoors, permit small private gatherings and relax restaurant opening times.

But experts warned South Korea was dropping its guard against the coronavirus too soon, with the majority of the population still unvaccinated.

Now it is facing its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak.

Seoul mask wearers
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES - image caption South Koreans have been asked to wear masks again

A record-breaking daily tally of cases has forced the government to tighten social-distancing rules across most of the country. In the capital, Seoul, residents have been banned from meeting more than one other person after 18:00.
With the Delta variant spreading fast and its vaccination rate slowing, public confidence in South Korea's ability to cope with coronavirus has taken a knock.


Sweden
Unlike most countries, Sweden has relied mainly on voluntary measures to stem the spread of infections, though curbs on opening hours for restaurants and limits on crowds at venues have also been implemented.

Some of those restrictions have already been loosened, with 3,000 seated spectators allowed at sports stadiums and the rules on opening hours scrapped on 1 July. More restrictions are being scrapped on 15 July.

Since the spring, cases have continued to fall steeply, something credited to rising vaccinations and warmer weather, meaning people are spending more time outdoors.

But amid worries about the rise of the Delta variant, most travellers returning to Sweden will need to be tested for Covid-19.


Australia
For most of the past year, Australians had enjoyed life with few restrictions. Face masks weren't required as the country consistently recorded days when no Covid cases were found at all.

When there were outbreaks, authorities launched snap lockdowns to bring case rates back to zero. For example, Perth shut down for five days in January over the detection of a single case.

But an outbreak of the Delta strain in Sydney mid-June has plunged the nation's largest city back into lockdown. That is expected to last until the end of July at least.
The city is currently fighting more than 100 cases a day. The virus spread quickly - even in the first weeks of lockdown - in a city unused to restrictions. Officials said people were exploiting stay-at-home rules. These have been tightened since.

media captionSydney extends lockdown to fight Delta outbreak
But with more than 90% of the population unvaccinated, officials say a return to normality will take some time. A lack of vaccine supplies, specifically of Pfizer, mean many Australians won't be able to get a jab until the final months of the year.


US
As the Joe Biden administration forged ahead in its vaccine drive, many states began lifting restrictions, ditching mask mandates and allowing businesses to reopen.

In June, California - the US's most populous state - announced its "grand reopening", while New York lifted nearly all restrictions as its vaccination rate passed 70%.

Overall, cases have remained low. New infections are less than one-tenth of the average daily rate at the height of the pandemic in January, even as they have doubled in the last two weeks.

But there are growing concerns about the more infectious Delta variant that has been surging in some under-vaccinated states. As the vaccine rate slows, some states are recommending residents keep wearing masks because of worries over the more infectious strain.
In New York City, cases have jumped by almost a third in a week, with the highest rises in neighbourhoods with the lowest vaccine rates.

Deaths are creeping up, but not as sharply as cases. State officials say the overwhelming majority of people now hospitalised with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.


Covid-19 rules: How six countries fared after easing Covid rules - BBC News
 

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Wary and Weary,
Los Angeles Largely Accepts Restored Mask Mandate



a person wearing a costume: Katherine Swaim, 24, of Boston shopping in the retail store Tazga on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday.

© Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times Katherine Swaim, 24, of Boston shopping in the retail store Tazga on the Third Street
Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday.


SANTA MONICA, Calif. — As the sun began to burn through the morning marine layer, patrons of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., were still adjusting to the new normal, which was pretty much the old normal — an order from Los Angeles County to wear masks indoors in businesses and public places.

Most customers dutifully took their masks on and off at the entrance of shops, where signs were posted to remind them of the policy and where, in some cases, complimentary masks were offered. Out-of-state tourists found themselves wearing masks for the first time in months, sometimes annoyed but largely compliant, and one restaurant employee who forgot about the mandate was able to secure a mask by running across the street and asking employees at the Starbucks if they had extras.

“Some people think it’s a punishment,” said Lisa Liu, 38, who said she was fully vaccinated. She was shopping on Sunday and was interviewed outside a clothing store called Tazga. “But for me it’s a mask — it’s not a big deal.”

It was not what people expected when the previous mandate was lifted a month ago, but for the most part people in Los Angeles seemed to react with resigned acceptance, sometimes even weary approval, figuring that rising Covid-19 rates made the policy tolerable, if not welcome.

County health officials came under public pressure in January, when the decision to continue vaccinating only health care workers contradicted a state announcement of eligibility for adults age 65 and older. A few days later, the county backtracked on its strategy.

In June, just two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted California’s mask mandate as part of the state’s “grand reopening,” county health officials released a statement “strongly” recommending that all vaccinated people wear masks indoors, despite eased restrictions. California gives counties the option to impose tighter restrictions locally, but the state has maintained the C.D.C. recommendation that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks indoors in most situations.

The vaccination rate in Los Angeles County is above the national average, with more than 69 percent of residents receiving at least one dose and 61 percent being fully vaccinated. But with millions still unvaccinated, local officials said the renewed mandate was needed.

“Waiting for us to be at high community transmission level before making a change would be too late,” the Los Angeles County health officer, Muntu Davis, said on Thursday.


Wary and Weary, Los Angeles Largely Accepts Restored Mask Mandate (msn.com)
 

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UK scientists believe a coronavirus variant will emerge that current vaccines don't work on


By Rina Torchinsky
August 3, 2021

An analysis published by the UK government’s official scientific advisory group says it’s “almost certain” that a COVID-19 variant will emerge that can evade the current vaccines, CNN reported. The analysis has not been peer reviewed and the early research is theoretical, according to CNN. The research provides no evidence that any such variant is circulating now. Documents like this one are released as “as pre-print publications that have provided the government with rapid evidence during an emergency.”
The scientists write that the eradication of the virus is “unlikely” and that they have “high confidence” that variants will continue to emerge. Researchers recommend that authorities continue to fight virus transmission as much as possible to reduce the risk of a new, vaccine-resistant variant. They also recommend that further research focuses on vaccines that not only prevent hospital admissions and disease, but also “induce high and durable levels of mucosal immunity." Research is underway at several companies to make COVID-19 vaccines able to address new variants.


 

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Florida Sets Daily Record for Entire
Pandemic With 21,683 New COVID-19 Cases


BY DANIEL POLITI
AUG 01, 2021


Florida reported 21,683 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest number than any previous day during the coronavirus pandemic. The record numbers were recorded on Friday and released Saturday. The state’s previous record had been set on Jan. 7, when 19,334 cases were reported in what was the worst month of the pandemic. Over the past week, Florida experienced a 50 percent weekly increase in new infections, with 110,477 cases from July 23 to July 29. Now it’s looking like the second half of July could likely be the start of the third COVID-19 peak for Florida “as the case numbers reported Thursday (17,589), Friday (17,093) and Saturday mix in with Jan. 6-8 to comprise the top six individual case count days,” notes the Miami Herald.

The Sunshine State, which represents around 6.5 percent of the country’s population, now accounts for around one in five new virus infections in the entire country, making it the new epicenter of the pandemic. This month, Florida was one of four states that made up around 40 percent of the country’s total infections and its positive test rate of 18.1 percent is more than double the national average of 7.8 percent. “There is no higher risk area in the United States than we’re seeing here,” Florida International University infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty told CBS Miami. “The numbers that we’re seeing are unbelievable, just unbelievably frightening.”


https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-record-covid-pandemic-cases-coronavirus.html
 

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The US Surgeon General says we're thinking about the end of the pandemic in the wrong way: 'Success does not equal no cases'


Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. Susan Walsh/Associated Press


  • The US has likely missed its chance to rid itself of COVID-19, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said.
  • "Success does not equal no cases," Murthy told Politico, as ICUs across the country run low on beds.
  • Vaccination continues to be the best way to keep people alive and out of the hospital, he said.

COVID-19 is unlikely to be going away completely, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in an interview with Politico.

Although the US has missed the opportunity to totally eradicate the disease, he said people can still take steps to keep the situation from getting worse.

"It is really important that we convey that success does not equal no cases," Murthy said. "Success looks like very few people in the hospital and very few dying."

Murthy's remarks come as many hospitals across the US report having zero ICU bed capacity remaining, with several treating nearly twice as many ICU patients as they have room for.

The continued increase in COVID-19 cases over Labor Day weekend forced many Americans to change or cancel plans, bringing what began as an optimistic summer to an end on a decidedly somber note.

"This is obviously a very difficult part of the pandemic," Murthy said.

Murthy also pointed out that the situation is particularly dire in areas of the country that have lower vaccination rates and compliance with mask-wearing guidance.

"This is the dichotomy developing," he said. "It's almost like living in two different Americas."

Murthy also said that vaccinated people tend to overestimate the danger posed by the coronavirus Delta varian
t, and that unvaccinated people tend to underestimate the risk.

Guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control says that unvaccinated patients with the Delta variant are more likely to be hospitalized than with earlier strains, while vaccinated patients with breakthrough cases have been far less likely to require hospitalization.

Simply put: vaccines work, Murthy said.

Over the weekend, Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that hospitals in some areas are "perilously close" to having to choose who gets potentially lifesaving medical treatment.

The public health agency in Austin, Texas, said the 11 counties around that city have run out of ICU beds as Delta variant cases surge there.

"We have vaccines that are safe and effective in protecting people who are fully vaccinated from severe illness and death," the agency said in a statement. "Each of us has the responsibility to keep our community safe."


US Unlikely to Reach Zero COVID-19 Cases, Surgeon General Says (businessinsider.com)
 

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Florida Councilman Who Mocked Dr. ‘Falsey’ Fauci Is Hospitalized With Severe COVID
DENIAL IS A DISEASE

fred_lowry_ayh5yq

Volusia County Council

Kana Ruhalter
Breaking News Intern

Published Sep. 07, 2021 3:18PM ET


Fred Lowry, a councilman for Florida’s Volusia County and a loud COVID-19 denier, is in the hospital with a severe case of COVID-19, according to the County Chair Jeff Brower. “He is in the hospital wrestling with COVID-19. It’s been about three weeks now,” Brower said on Tuesday as Lowry, 66, missed a county council meeting for the second time.

Lowry, a Republican halfway through his second term on the Volusia County Council, spread COVID-19 disinformation and conspiracy theories, going so far as to say the pandemic was a hoax. “We were lied to,” he said in a sermon at Denton’s Lakes Baptist Church. Lowry often criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom he nicknamed “Dr. Falsey,” and insisted the top health official was a liar and pervert. Other conspiracies Lowry promoted had to do with media coverage of hydroxychloroquine and the Wuhan lab-leak theory.


Lowry, a 66-year-old registered Republican, is midway though his second four-year term on the Volusia County Council, representing Deltona, Enterprise and parts of DeBary and Osteen. He was a Deltona City Commissioner from 2010 until his 2014 election to the county seat.​
He attracted controversy this summer for promoting conspiracy theories, including some about the coronavirus pandemic, in a sermon at Deltona Lakes Baptist Church.​
"We did not have a pandemic, folks. We were lied to," Lowry said in the May 30 sermon.​
He referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as "Dr. Falsey" — "I did not mispronounce that. That’s the way I wanted to say it." — and labeled him a liar and pervert. He also took issue with media coverage of the COVID-19 treatment hydroxychloroquine and the theory coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab.​
Lowry missed last week's special meeting on the budget. He last attended a meeting Aug. 17.​
Lowry last preached in a sermon live-streamed Aug. 29 from Cross Walk Church's Facebook page. Cross Walk Church, also located in Deltona, was formed in August when the congregation of Lowry's former church merged with another.​
Pastor Bill Hicks gave the sermon this Sunday, acknowledging that Lowry and many other churchgoers were absent, then turning to the subject of the coronavirus pandemic.​
"Some of you may have been told masks are mandatory. They are not," Hicks said. "We're trying to take precautions as best as possible, but that was misinformation."​

Messages to the church were not answered Tuesday.




Florida Councilman Who Mocked Dr. ‘Falsey’ Fauci Is Hospitalized With Severe COVID (thedailybeast.com)

Volusia County Councilman Fred Lowry in hospital fighting coronavirus (news-journalonline.com)


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Great Cats Tested Presumptive Positive
For COVID-19 at the Smithsonian's National Zoo






Sep. 17, 2021

Six African lions, a Sumatran tiger and two Amur tigers have tested presumptive positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. Last weekend, animal keepers observed decreased appetites, coughing, sneezing and lethargy in several lions and tigers. Fecal samples for all great cats were collected and tested presumptive positive. Final results are expected in the next few days. All lions and tigers are being treated with anti-inflammatories and anti-nausea medication to address discomfort and decreased appetite. In addition, all are being treated with antibiotics for presumptive secondary bacterial pneumonia. They remain under close observation and, because their condition does not require they remain inside, staff will manage the cats’ access to their outdoor habitats. Given the substantial distance between the animals and visitors, the public is not at risk. No other animals at the Zoo are showing any signs of infection.

The health and safety of Smithsonian staff, animals and visitors is our number one priority. The Zoo’s existing COVID-19 protocols restrict behind-the-scenes access in all animal areas and require use of personal protective equipment, hygiene, cleaning, employee self-screening and health management. The Zoo’s COVID safety and response protocols are in place and being strictly followed.

The Zoo has conducted a thorough investigation of all staff that were in close proximity to the lions and tigers. There is no evidence to pinpoint the source of the infection. While it is possible the infection was transmitted by an asymptomatic carrier, it has been standard practice for all animal care staff and essential staff to mask indoors in all public and non-public areas. The health and vaccination status of employees is confidential medical information.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has authorized the use of a SARS-COV-2 vaccine made specifically for zoo animals by Zoetis. The first round of vaccine disbursement will be administered to select animals identified as a susceptible species at both the Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia when it becomes available in the coming months.


Great Cats Tested Presumptive Positive For COVID-19 at the Smithsonian's National Zoo | Smithsonian's National Zoo


.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
First confirmed US case of Omicron coronavirus variant detected in California
By Kaitlan Collins, Jacqueline Howard and Betsy Klein, CNN

Updated 2:43 PM ET, Wed December 1, 2021
Fauci announces first Omicron variant case in the US




Tonight, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta host a global town hall on the Omicron coronavirus variant and Dr. Anthony Fauci will answer viewer questions. Watch live at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

(CNN)The United States' first confirmed case of the Omicron coronavirus variant has been identified in California.
In a White House news briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the case was in an individual who traveled from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive for Covid-19 on November 29.

That individual, Fauci said, is self-quarantining and close contacts have tested negative for the coronavirus so far.

The person was fully vaccinated and is experiencing "mild symptoms, which are improving at this point," Fauci said.

Asked by CNN whether that person had a booster shot, Fauci said, "To my knowledge, no."

The California and San Francisco public health departments confirmed the case was caused by the Omicron variant through genomic sequencing conducted at the University of California at San Francisco, and the sequence was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

First confirmed US case of Omicron coronavirus variant detected in California - CNN


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QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Is Omicron Milder?
The mystery of the moment is very hard to solve. Here’s my best shot.


By Derek Thompson
Illustration of colored coronaviruses (green, yellow, orange, and red) with a dial pointing at orange
P
The Atlantic
DECEMBER 22, 2021


About the author: Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter. He is also the author of Hit Makers and the host of the podcast Plain English.
Sign up for Derek’s newsletter here.

When omicron appeared,scientists three big questions.

First, would Omicron be more transmissible than previous variants? Judging from the nearly vertical charts of case growth in South Africa, Europe, New York City, and just about every other place Omicron has made an unwelcome appearance, the answer is yes. This may be the most transmissible strain of the coronavirus that we’ve ever seen.


Second, would Omicron evade some immune defense from our vaccines and prior infections?
Here the evidence is also overwhelming: Yes. The skyrocketing daily cases in largely vaccinated regions are persuasive enough. For even more glaring examples, look at the hundreds of breakthrough cases in the NFL, NHL, and NBA, leagues with vaccination rates greater than 90 percent. Despite having mandated vaccines, Cornell had to shut downits campus after nearly 1,000 students tested positive.

Third, would Omicron cause more severe disease? This has been the most difficult to answer, in part because it has two components: an easy question and a hard question.

The easy question is whether a typical vaccinated (or recently infected) adult faces the same individual risk of severe disease from Omicron that she faced from the original coronavirus in March 2020. The answer is, almost certainly, no. The U.S. has banked a lot of immunity through infection and vaccinations, and the Omicron variant doesn’t seem to evade all of that built-up protection.

In the past month, we’ve learned that Omicron excels at breaking through the first layer of immunity, which is our neutralizing antibodies.

But our next layer of protection, our T-cell response, seems to hold up much better against the variant. If you think of the vaccines as a castle-defense system, Omicron is like an invading army that can scale walls (i.e., bypass neutralizing-antibody protection) but not fight the knights within them (i.e., overcome T-cell protection). Boosted Americans are particularly well equipped against the Omicron variant, because the third shot increases the number and quality of our neutralizing antibodies, which effectively builds up our immunity wall.


Now for the harder question:
How severe is the Omicron variant for people without immunity?
Altogether, evidence from countries with big Omicron outbreaks and from studies points tentatively toward an optimistic answer. But even the optimistic answer for individuals could be bad news for the health-care system.




.
 

QueEx

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Omicron Is Pushing America Into Soft Lockdown

Nobody wants to mandate business closures, but so many people are getting sick that businesses are closing anyway.

By Sarah Zhang
A sign that says SORRY WE'RE CLOSED, with coronavirus-shaped holes in it

Getty;

The Atlantic
DECEMBER 26, 2021


“I do not see a scenario for any kind of shutdown,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared this week, as parts of New York were in fact shutting down all around him. Broadway canceled show after show. Restaurants closed their kitchens. De Blasio’s successor, Eric Adams, who will take office January 1, nixed his inauguration gala. There has been no March 2020–style universal shutdown, but New York is not back anymore, baby.

For Brent Young, who runs a butcher shop and two restaurants in Brooklyn, it began last week when, one by one, staff members tested positive. “It’s more or less decimated our workforce,” he says. One of his restaurants had been booked solid with parties for a week—the holidays are one of the busiest times of the year for restaurants—but people started canceling those parties too. At this point it’s not worth trying to stay open, Young says, “because the anxiety’s so high no one’s wanting to eat.” For most vaccinated people, Omicron will be mild. But even a mild cold, sufficiently widespread, can disrupt a city.

A voluntary suspension of activity—a soft lockdown, essentially—will help dampen transmission of the coronavirus. This happened all over the country in spring 2020, when people began staying at home before official stay-at-home orders came down, says Saad Omer, an epidemiologist at Yale and a co-author of a paper that studied the phenomenon using anonymized cellphone data. It’s intuitive, really. “Things become more salient; you react on that,” Omer says. This feedback loop, which conventional epidemiological models entirely ignore, can help determine the shape and duration of the Omicron wave—but
exactly how is hard to predict.

The classic “epi curve” shows cases rising exponentially until so many people are immune that the spread of the virus has to slow. Then cases fall exponentially. But if soft lockdowns help suppress that viral spread, then cases will drop off sooner, while many people are still susceptible. In other words, “when you see a peak and see it go down, it doesn’t mean the risk has abated,” says Joshua Weitz, who studies viral dynamics at Georgia Tech. According to work by Weitz and his colleagues, this helps explain why COVID cases have peaked and plateaued multiple times over the course of the pandemic. Those peaks also tend to be asymmetrical, with steeper rises than falls. This too may be related to behavior: People might become more careful when they see an initial surge in cases but let their guard down when pandemic fatigue sets in. Just as our voluntary actions can act as a brake on rising cases, they can also slow a wave’s decline. Omicron is surging at a time when Americans are already weary of the pandemic, so this soft lockdown may not last very long. And in communities where people are very over COVID, it may not happen at all.


Whatever the effect of a soft lockdown on the spread of Omicron, it will affect the economy too. Even if customers remain willing to go out, businesses will have to close when too many employees end up sick or get stuck in quarantine. It’s why the NHL canceled its games through Christmas and why several museums in London have closed their doors. Shortening isolation periods in light of Omicron might help minimize these disruptions. The U.K. is now allowing sick people to test out of isolation at day seven, and the U.S. is considering a shorter period for vaccinated people with breakthrough cases.

In a soft lockdown, businesses are also on their own. Last spring’s stay-at-home orders came with unemployment assistance and emergency loans. None of that is coming this time. “All of the decision making is put on the small-business owners,” Young says. He’ll have to shoulder the cost of closing his businesses, and then just hope they can reopen soon. In the meantime, he says, he’s buying all the rapid tests he can.

The Atlantic’s COVID-19 coverage is supported by grants from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.



.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
United States cases
Updated Dec 31, 2021

Confirmed Cases = 54,219,533
Deaths = 822,694





 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Our Relationship With COVID Vaccines Is Just Getting Started

We probably will need additional shots. But just how many depends on our immune systems, the virus, and how often they collide.

By Katherine J. Wu


Walter Barker has, since the fall of 2020, had five doses of COVID-19 vaccine. He’s already starting to ponder when he might need a sixth.

Barker, a 38-year-old office worker in New York, received his first two doses a year ago, as part of an AstraZeneca vaccine trial. But the shots, which haven’t been authorized by the FDA, couldn’t get him into some venues. Sick of having to test every time he went to a Yankees game, Barker nabbed a pair of Moderna injections in the spring. Then, when the government urged boosters, he figured he’d “rather be safe than sorry,” especially because of his Type 2 diabetes—a risk factor for severe COVID. That was vaccine No. 5. Plus, he told me, he’d also caught the actual virus between his AstraZeneca and Moderna shots.

Now Barker’s steeling himself for the possibility of “a new booster or two every year.” Inklings of such a policy are already starting to appear. Israel is debating whether to offerfourth shots to higher-risk groups, including people over 60 and health-care workers. Some physicians are arguing that certain Americansshould dose up again as well. And vaccine makers have long insisted that we’ll likely needannual shots at least. Given the clip at which the coronavirus seems to change, “I do think we’ll have to keep updating the vaccine,” Katie Gostic, an infectious-disease modeler at the University of Chicago, told me.

At this point in the pandemic, though, there’s no consensus on the number of shots we’ll need in the long term; plenty of the world’s leading COVID-vaccine experts have shifted their stance in just the past few weeks. Back in the summer, Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis, thought, “There is no way we will need annual vaccinations,” he told me. “I am [at] 50 percent now.”


Full Story: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/how-many-covid-19-booster-shots/621132/


,
 

QueEx

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How Long Does Omicron Take to Make You Sick?
The new variant seems to be our quickest one yet. That makes it harder to catch with the tests we have.



Coronavirus particles with swabs protruding out

Getty / The Atlantic

By Katherine J. Wu
DECEMBER 20, 2021

It certainly might not seem like it given the pandemic mayhem we’ve had, but the original form of SARS-CoV-2 was a bit of a slowpoke. After infiltrating our bodies, the virus would typically brew for about five or six days beforesymptoms kicked in. In the many months since that now-defunct version of the virus emerged, new variants have arrived to speed the timeline up. Estimates for this exposure-to-symptom gap, called the incubation period, clocked in at about five days for Alpha and four days for Delta. Now word has it that the newest kid on the pandemic block, Omicron, may have ratcheted it down to as little as three.

If that number holds, it’s probably bad news. These trimmed-down cook times are thought to play a major part in helping coronavirus variants spread: In all likelihood, the shorter the incubation period, the faster someone becomes contagious—and the quicker an outbreak spreads. A truncated incubation “makes a virus much, much, much harder to control,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told me.


Already, that’s what this variant seems to be. In less than a month, Omicron has blazed into dozens of countries, sending case rates torecord-breaking heights. If, as some scientists suspect, this variant is so primed to xerox itself more quickly inside us—including, it seems, in many people with at least some immunity—that leaves punishingly little time in which to detect the virus, intervene with antivirals, and hamper its spread.

Read: America is not ready for Omicron

A pause here. We are still just weeks into our fight against Omicron, and it’s not easy to gather data on incubation periods, which might differ among populations, or suss out exactly how the virus is tangoing with our cells. But the early warning signs are here—and as my colleague Sarah Zhang has reported, we know enough to act.

All of this, then, ups the urgency on having tests that can quickly and reliably pinpoint Omicron. “If Omicron has a shorter incubation period, that’s going to wreak havoc on how we test for it and deal with it,” Omai Garner, a clinical microbiologist in the UCLA Health system, told me. But testing in the United States remains slow, expensive, and, for many, infuriatingly out of reach. We’re ill-prepared for the incoming Omicron surge not just because it’s a new version of the coronavirus, but because it’s poised to exploit one of the greatest vulnerabilities in our infection-prevention toolkit. The coronavirus is getting faster, which means it’s also getting harder to catch.

Since the World Health Organization designated Omicron as a variant of concern at the end of November, the virus seems to have popped up just about everywhere. Researchers are tracing cases of it back to schools, child-care centers, hotels, universities, weddings, and bars. And they’re finding it at office holiday parties, like the one at a restaurant in Oslo, Norway, where about 80 people may have caught or transmitted Omicron.

In a research paper describing the Oslo outbreak, scientists noted that, after the event, symptoms seemed to come on quickly—typically in about three days. More troubling, nearly every person who reported catching Omicron said that they were vaccinated, and had received a negative antigen-test result sometime in the two days prior to the party. It was a clue that perhaps the microbe had multiplied inside of people so briskly that rapid-test results had rapidly been rendered obsolete.

The time lines described by the Norwegian researchers are preliminary, and might not be representative of the rest of us. But they appearto match up with early, sometimes-anecdotal reports, including some out of South Africa, one of the first countries to detect and report Omicron’s existence. Shorter incubation periods generally lead to more infections happening in less time, because people are becoming more contagious sooner, making onward transmission harder to prevent. Ajay Sethi, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me he still wants more data on Omicron before he touts a trim incubation. But “it does make sense,” he said, considering the variant’s explosive growth in pretty much every country it’s collided with. In many places, Omicron cases are doubling every two to three days.


Nailing the incubation interval really is tough. Researchers have to track down sizable outbreaks, such as the Oslo Christmas party; try to figure out who infected whom; wait for people to report when they start feeling sick—always a fickle thing, because symptoms are subjective—then, ideally, track whether the newly infected are spreading the virus too. The numbers will vary depending on who was involved: SARS-CoV-2-incubation periods could differ by vaccination status, underlying health conditions, infection history, age, and even the dose of the virus people get blasted with. To complicate things further, the start of symptoms tends to lag behind the start of contagiousness by, on average, a couple of days; when symptoms begin earlier, transmission might not follow to exactly the same degree.

If Omicron’s incubation period turns out to be conclusively shorter, we would still have to figure out how it got winnowed down. Some of it could be inherent to the virus itself. Omicron’s spike protein is freckled with more than 30 mutations, some of which, based on previous variants, could help it grip more tightly onto cells and wriggle more efficiently into their interiors. Two recent laboratory studies, neither yet published in scientific journals, may be hinting at these trends. One, from a team at Harvard University, showedthat a harmless virus, engineered to display Omicron’s spike on its surface, more easily penetrated human cells in a dish; another, out of Hong Kong University, found that Omicron multiplied dozens of times faster than Delta in tissue extracted from the upper airway. The findings won’t necessarily translate into what goes on in actual bodies, but they support the idea that Omicron is turbocharging the rate at which it accumulates to contagiousness. The faster that happens, the more quickly the virus can spill out of one person and into the next. If the data pan out, “this could go a long way in explaining the rapid transmission,” Lisa Gralinski, a virologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told me.



The unvaccinated remain most at risk, but this trend would have troubling consequences for the vaccinated and previously infected too, especially if they’re unboosted. Many of the antibodies we marshaled against previous versions of the coronavirus don’t recognize Omicron very well, and won’t be able to sequester it before it foists itself into cells. Eventually, a vaccine- or infection-trained immune system will “catch up,” Ryan McNamara, a virologist at Harvard Medical School, told me, churning out more antibodies and launching an army of T cells that can quell the virus before it begets serious disease. But those defenses take a few days to kick in and might not arrive in time to forestall the early, and often most potent, stages of transmission. The faster Omicron sprints, the more of a head start it gets against the body’s defenses.

The picture on Omicron is coalescing both microscopically within us and broadly in communities—steep, steep, steep slopes in growth. The two phenomena are linked: A shorter incubation period means there’s less time to pinpoint an infection before it becomes infectious. With Omicron, people who think they’ve been exposed may need to test themselves sooner, and more often, to catch a virus on the upswing. And the negative results they get might have even less longevity than they did with other variants, Melissa Miller, a clinical microbiologist at UNC, told me. Tests offer just a snapshot of the past, not a forecast of the future; a fast-replicating virus can go from not detectable to very, very detectable in a matter of hours—morning to evening, negatives may not hold.


This, especially, could be bad news for PCR tests, which have been the gold standard throughout the pandemic and essential for diagnosing the very sick. (Thankfully, most PCR tests do seem to be detecting Omicron well.) These tests have to be processed in a laboratory before they can ping back results—a process that usually takes at least a few hours but, when resources are stretched thin as they are now, can balloon out to many days. In that time, Omicron could have hopped out of one person’s body and into the next, and into the next. It’s a particular gamble for people who don’t have symptoms and who are still out and about while they await their results. The more swiftly the virus becomes infectious, the more important testing speed becomes too.

Rapid at-home antigen tests—which can be purchased over the counter, and can return results in about 15 minutes—could fill some of the gaps. Their results would also come with quick expiration dates, but they’d also manifest faster, and, potentially, offer a better representation of what’s happening in the body right now.

Read: COVID tests weren’t designed for this

But rapid antigen tests aren’t a perfect solution. Compared with PCR tests, they are less able to pick up on the virus when it’s present at pretty low levels—which means they might have a harder time homing in on the virus while it’s simmering early in infection, or might even fail to detect it in people who are already contagious. A few experts told me that they’re worried some antigen tests will struggle to pinpoint the highly mutated Omicron at all, something still being monitored by the FDA.

People could test themselves repeatedly to lower the chances that they miss the microbe, but a strategy like that quickly starts to verge on impractical. You can’t reasonably ask people to test themselves every 12 hours, Nuzzo said. And the products still aren’t available in high enough numbers to meet anywhere near that kind of demand. They’re also wildly expensive, keeping them out of the hands of many of the vulnerable communities that need them most. Some states are passing out rapid tests for free, but they’re still in the minority. And the Biden administration’s limited reimbursement plan won’t take effect until next year. On grand scales, American supply is still massively, massively falling short. That fact, married with Omicron’s probable pace, means “we’re not going to catch everybody who has it,” Nuzzo said.


The variant’s fleet-footedness is likely to have big ripple effects in clinical settings too. Garner and Miller, who both run clinical labs, are worried that the coming testing surge will delay results for patients who have to be screened before going into surgery, or who need a diagnosis for treatment. That could be especially problematic for doling out the much-anticipated antiviral pills to treat COVID, which need to be taken very early in the course of illness to effectively halt the progression of disease. Stretched laboratory capacity could also compromise testing for other pathogens, including the flu, which is creeping back into the population just as health-care systems are starting to buckle once more. Nationwide, Garner said, “we are as unprepared for a surge as we were a year ago.”

People shouldn’t give up on tests, experts told me; they’ll still make a big difference when and where they’re used, especially for diagnosing the sick. But Omicron’s speed is a sharp reminder of humanity’s own sluggishness during this pandemic. Until now, tests offered only a porous safety net; in the era of Omicron, the holes are even wider. We’ll need to close the gaps by doubling down further on preventive measures: masking, vaccination, ventilation, and, unfortunately, cutting back on travel and socializing. Viruses don’t actually move that fast on their own—they need human hosts to carry them. If things stay as they are, though, we’ll keep giving this one the ride of a lifetime.


The Atlantic’s COVID-19 coverage is supported by grants from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Katherine J. Wu is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers science.



.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
United States cases
Updated Jan 9 at 7:10 AM

Confirmed = 59,580,298

(+709,009)

Deaths = 835,672
(+2,382)


 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
UNITED STATES CASES
Updated Jan 15, 2022

Confirmed = 64,120,554 (+502,601)

Deaths = 845,577 (+1,015)




.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator

Former President Barack Obama tests positive for Covid-19
By Arlette Saenz

3:57 PM EDT, Sun March 13, 2022
Former President Barack Obama speaks in Richmond, Virginia, on October 23, 2021.


(CNN)Former President Barack Obama announced Sunday that he has tested positive for Covid-19.

"I've had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise," he said on his official Twitter account. Obama also said that his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, has tested negative.

"Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted," the former President said. "It's a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven't already, even as cases go down."
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
COVID

FDA OKs another Pfizer, Moderna COVID booster for 50 and up
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, MATTHEW PERRONE, 14 mins ago
The Associated Press

The Associated Press
Follow
https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ILdnR_0et3I2Lp00

FILE - Vials for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are seen at a temporary clinic in Exeter, N.H. on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized another booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people age 50 and up, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older, a step to offer extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds.

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to those people at least four months after their previous booster.
 

Mrfreddygoodbud

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
LOL,

Translation,

All the other vaccines we told you would work dont.. but forget about that..

this is the one...

yea ok????

Ivermectin IS THE TRUTH!!!!!!

Ivermectin comes from Rich Soil,

Just like real Kniggas!!!

high tech covid vaccines like moderna are literally

OPERATING SYSTEMS.....

read it for yourself

Enabling Drug Discovery & Development
We built Moderna on the guiding premise that if using mRNA as a medicine works for one disease, it should work for many diseases. And, if this is possible – given the right approach and infrastructure – it could meaningfully improve how medicines are discovered, developed and manufactured.
Our Operating System ( WHAA DA FUCK you want somebodies operating SYSTEM in YOUR body... if you do.. you simply cannot make sound decisions)
Recognizing the broad potential of mRNA science, we set out to create an mRNA technology platform that functions very much like an operating system on a computer. It is designed so that it can plug and play interchangeably with different programs. In our case, the "program” or “app” is our mRNA drug - the unique mRNA sequence that codes for a protein.

Yea I know its a fuckin conspiracy theory.

Yet is actually taking from their fuckin site,

Ol non reading ass kniggas.. better stop listening to

all these fuckin paid agents!!!

Ivermectin is the truth..

and yes its a horse dewormer, pig dewormer, cattle dewormer..

human dewormer..

ITS A FUCKIN DEWORMER!!!

humans GET PARASITES/WORMS too in fact

What is the most common parasite in humans?


Below are the most common types of parasitic worms that infect humans and are not usually visible to the naked eye.
  • Pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis) ...
  • Tapeworms (Taenia solium) ...
  • Roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) ...
  • Roundworms (Wuchereria bancrofti) ...
  • Roundworms (Trichinella ) ...
  • Flatworms (Fasciola hepatica)

If yall dont have IVERMECTIN on deck.. and taking shit to keep your immune

system up.. vit c, vit d and ZINC..

then you tryin to get caught lackin..

dont worry Im gettin tired of repeating myself...

I just know a few logical heads are still out there...

if you took the vaccine make sure you are watching your sugar intake

and eat lots of veggies fruits and fibrous foods...
 
Last edited:

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
United States cases
Updated Mar 30, 2022

Confirmed = 79,995,485
Deaths = 977,687


 

LucaBrasi

Potential Star
Registered
LOL,

Translation,

All the other vaccines we told you would work dont.. but forget about that..

this is the one...

yea ok????

Ivermectin IS THE TRUTH!!!!!!

Ivermectin comes from Rich Soil,

Just like real Kniggas!!!

high tech covid vaccines like moderna are literally

OPERATING SYSTEMS.....

read it for yourself

Enabling Drug Discovery & Development
We built Moderna on the guiding premise that if using mRNA as a medicine works for one disease, it should work for many diseases. And, if this is possible – given the right approach and infrastructure – it could meaningfully improve how medicines are discovered, developed and manufactured.
Our Operating System ( WHAA DA FUCK you want somebodies operating SYSTEM in YOUR body... if you do.. you simply cannot make sound decisions)
Recognizing the broad potential of mRNA science, we set out to create an mRNA technology platform that functions very much like an operating system on a computer. It is designed so that it can plug and play interchangeably with different programs. In our case, the "program” or “app” is our mRNA drug - the unique mRNA sequence that codes for a protein.

Yea I know its a fuckin conspiracy theory.

Yet is actually taking from their fuckin site,

Ol non reading ass kniggas.. better stop listening to

all these fuckin paid agents!!!

Ivermectin is the truth..

and yes its a horse dewormer, pig dewormer, cattle dewormer..

human dewormer..

ITS A FUCKIN DEWORMER!!!

humans GET PARASITES/WORMS too in fact

What is the most common parasite in humans?


Below are the most common types of parasitic worms that infect humans and are not usually visible to the naked eye.
  • Pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis) ...
  • Tapeworms (Taenia solium) ...
  • Roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) ...
  • Roundworms (Wuchereria bancrofti) ...
  • Roundworms (Trichinella ) ...
  • Flatworms (Fasciola hepatica)

If yall dont have IVERMECTIN on deck.. and taking shit to keep your immune

system up.. vit c, vit d and ZINC..

then you tryin to get caught lackin..

dont worry Im gettin tired of repeating myself...

I just know a few logical heads are still out there...

if you took the vaccine make sure you are watching your sugar intake

and eat lots of veggies fruits and fibrous foods...


Yup... google ivermectin and cancer

big deal if ivermectin is anti parasitic. fact is that's prob why it was so effective in 3rd world countries. Let the ivermectin take care of the parasites so your immune system can focus on the virus.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
United States cases
Updated Apr 7, 2022

Confirmed = 80,208,810
Deaths = 982,576


.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Should you cancel your travel plans now that masks aren't required on planes and trains?

CNN
April 19, 2022


On Monday, a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration's mask mandate for airplanes, trains and other public transport. Within hours, several major airlines announced that they would no longer be enforcing mask requirements, and mask-wearing is optional.


How can people continue to keep safe on planes now that masks are no longer required?
What about vulnerable individuals like immunocompromised people and young children who aren't yet vaccinated? Do you need to quarantine if you're visiting vulnerable people and you were just on a flight? Should people consider canceling their travel plans?

To help answer these questions, I spoke with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She is also author of "Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health."

The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

CNN: First of all, how worried are you about masks no longer being required on flights?
Dr. Leana Wen: Since the beginning of the pandemic, I've said that my major concern with Covid-19 risk during travel isn't what happens during transit, but what happens after people get to their destination. It may seem like planes are high risk because there are a lot of people in close proximity to one another, but planes have not been a major source of virus spread even before masking requirements. That's because the ventilation on airplanes is quite good, with more frequent air exchanges than most office buildings. The HEPA filters they have are on par with the ones used in hospitals.​
That said, masks -- especially when used properly and consistently -- do reduce the risk of virus transmission. There could be higher risk now that masks are no longer required. That means people who wish to remain cautious must take matters into their own hands even more to protect themselves.​
Wen: Just because masks aren't required by the government doesn't mean that you shouldn't wear them. I have several trips this month by train and by plane, and I will certainly be choosing to mask in the airport, train station, on the train and plane, and in other crowded areas.

If you are going to wear a mask, please wear a well-fitting, high-quality mask -- an N95, KN95 or KF94 mask. I get very worried when I see people in simple cloth masks. They may think that those masks are protecting them, but they aren't doing much, especially when we are dealing with the extremely contagious Omicron subvariants.​
Wear your mask in the highest-risk settings. That includes during boarding and deplaning, when the ventilation systems on airplanes are often not running. Don't drink or eat at those times.​
Of course, please make sure you that you are maximally protected from a vaccination perspective. People who are vaccinated and boosted are less likely to be infected with Covid-19 compared with someone who is unvaccinated -- and much less likely to become severely ill from the coronavirus. Consider getting your second booster shot, if you are eligible, for additional protection.​


CNN: What's your advice for people who are immunocompromised, or families with young children not yet eligible to be vaccinated?

Wen: For individuals who are immunocompromised or otherwise most vulnerable to severe outcomes from Covid-19, I would highly recommend that they stay masked with an N95 or equivalent mask at all times while in crowded indoor spaces. They should take off their mask to eat and drink only when not around others. That could be at an empty gate at the airport. One-way masking is highly protective, but only when it's used at all times with a well-fitting, high-quality mask.​
For families with children, the question to ask is how important is avoiding Covid-19 to your family. If it is very important, what to do depends on the age of the child. Children ages 2 and older who are able to mask can be encouraged to mask while on flights. A cloth mask worn over a three-ply surgical mask is better than a cloth mask alone. It's much more challenging for little kids and those who are unable to mask. My best advice is to put them in the window seat, turn on the air nozzle at full blast, and try to limit the time they have to be in packed, poorly ventilated spaces like during boarding and deplaning.​


CNN: What if you're traveling to visit vulnerable people? Do you need to quarantine or test before seeing them if you just got off a plane with a lot of maskless people?


Wen: Depending on the medical circumstances of the people you're visiting, you may already be asked to quarantine and test. For instance, if you are visiting an elderly relative who is on chemotherapy, or meeting a newborn baby, their families may already be requesting that you limit your risks and not go to indoor dining for a few days prior to travel, then take a rapid test just before seeing them.​
I don't think the travel itself should change this calculus. That is, I don't think a plane of maskless people is risky enough to start your quarantine clock over, as long as you wore your N95 or equivalent the entire time while in indoor, crowded settings.​


CNN: The mask mandate decision doesn't affect just airplanes and trains. It also impacts subways and buses, which a lot of people need to get to school and work, as well as medical appointments. Is it safe for them?


Wen: This is a major concern. While airplanes have good air circulation in comparison to many other indoor settings, buses and subways may not. Also, many people need to take these local or regional forms of transportation in order to go about their daily lives.​
Some municipalities, such as New York and Los Angeles, are continuing to enforce mask mandates on local public transportation. My advice for vulnerable people remains the same: It is extremely important that you wear a well-fitting, high-quality mask at all times while in these indoor crowded spaces. Young children who are unable to mask and cannot yet be vaccinated have been at higher risk throughout the pandemic, and they remain at higher risk now. Try to limit their time in these settings and look for ways to improve ventilation, for example, by opening a window if that is an option.​


CNN: Are there some people who might want to reconsider travel plans, now that the mask mandate has essentially been lifted?


Wen: I think families with babies and other very young children who are not able to mask might have already had concerns about traveling, especially with the number of people who were wearing flimsy masks or refusing to wear them. That's the group that I could see being even more hesitant to go on planes and trains now.​
Other people who can wear an N95 or equivalent mask should be quite well-protected through one-way masking. I would urge vulnerable people -- and really everyone -- to have a plan for what happens if they were to contract Covid-19. Would they qualify for treatments? If so, which ones are best for them, given their medical circumstances and other medications they are on? How would they access treatment at their destination? Can they bring rapid tests with them, and if they need confirmatory PCR testing, where would they get it?​
Speaking of tests, before you go to international destinations, make sure you know what, if any, testing and vaccination requirements there are. There is still a testing requirement to reenter the United States, so know where you would go to get your test.​
In recent months, there has been a shift from top-down, federal mandates to empowering individuals to make risk calculations and then decide for themselves what precautions they want to take. For some people, it may not be ideal, especially considering the chaotic way the federal mask mandate was brought to an end, but we all need to adjust to the current circumstances. We have many more tools at our disposal, and people should know about how to access all these tools to protect themselves and their families.​


© 2022 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved.


 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
UNITED STATES CASES
Updated Apr 30, 2022

Confirmed = 81,237,905

Deaths = 992,740
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Are We in the Middle of an Invisible COVID Wave?
No one’s actually sure.

By Yasmin Tayag
An image of a virus particle torn in half. An American flag is in the background.

Getty

The Atlantic
APRIL 28, 2022


Over the past month, the number of new COVID cases in my social circle has become impossible to ignore.

I brushed off the first few—guests at a wedding I attended in early April—as outliers during the post-Omicron lull. But then came frantic texts from two former colleagues. The next week, a friend at the local café was complaining that she’d lost her sense of smell. My Instagram feed is now surfacing selfies of people in isolation, some for the second or third time.

promo image


Cases in New York City, where I live, have been creeping up since early March. Lately, they’ve risen nationally, too.

On Tuesday, the national seven-day average of new COVID cases hit nearly 49,000, up from about 27,000 three weeks earlier
.

The uptick is likely being driven by BA.2, the new, more transmissible offshoot of Omicron that’s now dominant in the United States. BA.2 does seem to be troubling: In Western Europe and the U.K. in particular, where previous waves have tended to hit a few weeks earlier than they have in the U.S., the variant fueled a major surge in March that outpaced the Delta spike from the summer.

Cases in New York City, where I live, have been creeping up since early March. Lately, they’ve risen nationally, too. On Tuesday, the national seven-day average of new COVID cases hit nearly 49,000, up from about 27,000 three weeks earlier.

The uptick is likely being driven by BA.2, the new, more transmissible offshoot of Omicron that’s now dominant in the United States. BA.2 does seem to be troubling: In Western Europe and the U.K. in particular, where previous waves have tended to hit a few weeks earlier than they have in the U.S., the variant fueled a major surge in March that outpaced the Delta spike from the summer.

At least so far, the official numbers in the U.S. don’t seem to show that a similar wave has made it stateside. But those numbers aren’t exactly reliable these days. In recent months, testing practices have changed across the country, as at-home rapid tests have gone fully mainstream. These tests, however, don’t usually get recorded in official case counts. This means that our data could be missing a whole lot of infections across the country—enough to obscure a large surge. So … are we in the middle of an invisible wave? I posed the question to experts, and even they were stumped by what’s really happening in the U.S.

Read: Another COVID wave is looming

For a while, COVID waves were not all that difficult to detect. Even at the beginning of the pandemic, when the country was desperately short of tests, people sought out medical help that showed up in hospitalization data. Later, when Americans could easily access PCR tests at clinics, their results would automatically get reported to government agencies.

But what makes this moment so confusing is that the COVID metrics that reveal the most about how the coronavirus is spreading are telling us less and less. “Why we’re seeing what we’re seeing now is one of the more challenging scientific questions to answer,” Sam Scarpino, the vice president of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation, told me.


 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
United States cases
Updated May 8, 2022

Confirmed = 81,831,854

Deaths
= 997,318

.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Coronavirus wave this fall and winter could potentially infect 100 million, White House warns

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN
May 8, 2022

Washington (CNN)The Biden administration is issuing a new warning that the US could potentially see 100 million Covid-19 infections this fall and winter, as officials publicly stress the need for more funding from Congress to prepare the nation.

The projection of 100 million potential infections is an estimate based on a range of outside models that are being closely tracked by the administration and would include both the fall and winter, a senior administration official told CNN. Officials say this estimate is based on an underlying assumption of no additional resources or extra mitigation measures being taken, including new Covid-19 funding from Congress, or dramatic new variants.

The White House is sharing these estimates as officials renew their push to get Congress to approve additional funding to combat the virus and as the nation approaches a coronavirus death toll of 1 million. Officials have said the White House will commemorate the moment when the US surpasses 1 million deaths from Covid-19.

The Biden administration has been sounding the alarm for weeks that additional funding is needed to continue the federal Covid-19 response, even as it seeks a return to "normal" with many pandemic-era restrictions lifting.


The 100 million estimate was first reported by The Washington Post.


CNN has reported that the Biden administration requested $22.5 billion in supplemental Covid-19 relief funding in March in a massive government funding package but it was stripped from the bill. That request included funding for testing, treatments, therapeutics and preventing future outbreaks. Negotiators were able to reach an agreement on a scaled-back $10 billion package, but Congress left Washington in April without passing that bipartisan bill amid a disagreement over the Title 42 immigration policy -- a pandemic-era rule that allowed migrants to be returned immediately to their home countries, citing a public health emergency.

Officials have argued that without new funding, the US could be left unprepared for future waves.



.
 

trstar

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Some shit you can’t wish away.
folks need to maintain vigilant. Be careful of large non ventilated places, continue hand washings, get vaccinated and boosted, and work to keep your elders safe.
And most importantly, get healthy first. Lost that weight, focus on getting off your meds
 
Last edited:

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Some shit you can’t wish away.
folks need to maintain vigilant. Be careful of large non ventilated places, continue hand washings, get vaccinated and boosted, and work to keep your elders safe.

Precisely!
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
UNITED STATES CASES
May 13 at 11:09 PM local

Confirmed = 82,309,684

Deaths = 998,997
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
UNITED STATES CASES
Updated May 14 at 10:29 AM local

Confirmed = 82,367,762

Deaths = 999,125


.
 
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